Spring cleaning: some sitemap extension tags are going away
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Friday, May 06, 2022
Over the years, we introduced a number of tags and tag attributes for Google sitemap extensions,
specifically the Image and
Video extensions. Most of these tags
were added to allow site owners to deliver data more easily to Search.
Upon evaluating the value of the Google sitemap extension tags, we decided to officially deprecate
some tags and attributes, and remove them from our documentation. The deprecated tags will have no
effect on indexing and search features after August 6, 2022.
If you are a sitemap plugin developer or manage your own sitemaps, there's no immediate action
required; you can leave these tags and attributes in place without drawbacks. In the future,
Search Console may show warnings once these updates are included in the next schema versions of
the Image and
Video extensions.
The following tags and attributes are affected:
By simplifying sitemap extensions, we hope you can also reduce complexity of your codebases, and
sitemaps will be less cluttered in general. If you have questions or comments, check out our
sitemaps documentation, or catch us on
Twitter or in the
Search Central forums.
Posted by
Gary Illyes, Search Team
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
[null,null,[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle is deprecating certain tags and attributes in image and video sitemap extensions, effective August 6, 2022.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThese deprecated tags, including \u003ccode\u003ecaption\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003egeo_location\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003etitle\u003c/code\u003e for images and \u003ccode\u003ecategory\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eplayer_loc\u003c/code\u003e attributes, \u003ccode\u003egallery_loc\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eprice\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003etvshow\u003c/code\u003e for videos, will no longer influence indexing or search features.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eNo immediate action is required for website owners or sitemap plugin developers as these tags can remain without negative consequences.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle recommends following their best practices for images and videos instead of using the deprecated tags for providing relevant information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis simplification aims to reduce codebase complexity and improve sitemap clarity.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google deprecated several tags and attributes within its Image and Video sitemap extensions, effective August 6, 2022. These include `caption`, `geo_location`, `title`, and `license` for Image sitemaps, and `category`, `player_loc` attributes, `gallery_loc`, and `price`, and `tvshow` for Video sitemaps. While no immediate action is required, deprecated tags will not impact indexing. Site owners are encouraged to follow best practices instead. Future Search Console updates will include warnings for these tags.\n"],null,["# Spring cleaning: some sitemap extension tags are going away\n\nFriday, May 06, 2022\n\n\nOver the years, we introduced a number of tags and tag attributes for Google sitemap extensions,\nspecifically the [Image](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/image-sitemaps) and\n[Video](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) extensions. Most of these tags\nwere added to allow site owners to deliver data more easily to Search.\n\n\nUpon evaluating the value of the Google sitemap extension tags, we decided to officially deprecate\nsome tags and attributes, and remove them from our documentation. The deprecated tags will have no\neffect on indexing and search features after August 6, 2022.\n\n\nIf you are a sitemap plugin developer or manage your own sitemaps, there's no immediate action\nrequired; you can leave these tags and attributes in place without drawbacks. In the future,\nSearch Console may show warnings once these updates are included in the next schema versions of\nthe [Image](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/image-sitemaps) and\n[Video](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) extensions.\n\n\nThe following tags and attributes are affected:\n\n| Sitemap extension | Deprecated XML tag or attribute | Recommendation |\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| [Image sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/image-sitemaps) | `caption` | Follow our [images best practices](/search/docs/appearance/google-images#use-descriptive-alt-text). |\n| [Image sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/image-sitemaps) | `geo_location` | Follow our [images best practices](/search/docs/appearance/google-images#use-descriptive-alt-text). |\n| [Image sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/image-sitemaps) | `title` | Follow our [images best practices](/search/docs/appearance/google-images#use-descriptive-alt-text). |\n| [Image sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/image-sitemaps) | `license` | | Continue using [IPTC metadata](/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/image-license-metadata) for providing licensing data. |\n| [Video sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) | `category` | Follow our [video best practices](/search/docs/appearance/video). |\n| [Video sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) | `player_loc[@allow_embed]` | Follow our [video best practices](/search/docs/appearance/video). |\n| [Video sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) | `player_loc[@allow_embed]` | Follow our [video best practices](/search/docs/appearance/video). |\n| [Video sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) | `player_loc[@autoplay]` | Follow our [video best practices](/search/docs/appearance/video). |\n| [Video sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) | `gallery_loc` | Follow our [video best practices](/search/docs/appearance/video). |\n| [Video sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) | `price[@all]` | Follow our [video best practices](/search/docs/appearance/video). |\n| [Video sitemap](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) | `tvshow[@all]` | Follow our [video best practices](/search/docs/appearance/video). |\n\n\nBy simplifying sitemap extensions, we hope you can also reduce complexity of your codebases, and\nsitemaps will be less cluttered in general. If you have questions or comments, check out our\n[sitemaps documentation](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap), or catch us on\n[Twitter](https://twitter.com/googlesearchc) or in the\n[Search Central forums](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community).\n\nPosted by\n[Gary Illyes](https://garyillyes.com/+), Search Team"]]
